


leave as though fire burns under your feet

by danisnopeonfire



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Domestic, Drabble, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 05:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7301482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danisnopeonfire/pseuds/danisnopeonfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The tour is over, they're emotionally drained, and the journey back home isn't as smooth as they'd like it to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	leave as though fire burns under your feet

Frequent bouts of travel sickness and sore necks is hardly the most glamorous entrance to England, Dan thinks.

But he'll take whatever he can get if it means he can find his bed soon.

The way Phil is gripping his hand right now, with his eyes screwed shut and lips lined together, as though he's concentrating on the movements required for him to _breathe_ , has Dan pushing that dream away for the time being. There are more pressing issues, it seems. At the sound of the pilot's voice informing them they will be beginning their descent into Heathrow Airport, Dan feels Phil's pain. He really does.

"Kill me before it gets any worse." Phil is frugal with his mouth movements, parting his lips _just_ slightly to hiss the words out.

"I can go and get a bag..."

Phil's hand tightens around Dan's. All vicelike and determined. Dan figures it's the only way he can protest without having to inconvenience his temperamental stomach any further.

"You let go of my hand, and I projectile-vomit on the lady in front of us." It's a harsh whisper but it's not a threat. It's the truth. Like Phil is just _daring_ his body to make a false move.

Dan has to admit he saw Said Lady's very nice and expensive-looking coat before they boarded. If they have any chance of getting off this plane and into their bed without further altercations, Phil needs to hold it together.

Literally.

Dan moves in close. "Take deep breaths. Not all shallow-like. Really _breathe_."

Phil's voice is actually a whimper now. "Is that your default line of advice? I need something practical."

It's a mixture of the nausea and the tiredness talking. Dan knows that. Maybe that's why he swallows down a sarcastic response. Maybe that's why his heart goes out to him. And maybe that's why, after a brief assessment of the darkened plane, he presses his lips to Phil's temple and continues his whispered words of encouragement directly into his ear.

 

* * *

 

They make it back in one piece.

 _Sort_ of.

 A big piece of Phil was left behind in two separate airport toilets, much to the dismay of both his dignity and his stubbornness _not_ to throw up.

"It's okay because cars are much smoother than planes," Dan had told him as they boarded the taxi. It was an empty promise, apparently. Phil's face danced between different shades of white and green the whole journey home, and Dan had to seriously ponder the money they'd have to fork out to pay for the taxi's new interior.

Luckily, though, Phil's stomach seemed to know when enough public humiliation was enough, and they survived the journey without anything _too_ scandalous happening. Just low groans and periodical claims of " _I think I'm gonna..._ "

Nothing too scandalous at all.

 

* * *

 

Dan's beginning to think that sleep is just another right he's had taken away from him.

When Phil emerges from the bathroom, he's all shirtless and sweaty and teary and he's walking straight into Dan's outstretched arms. Dan holds him with an affection he had to stifle on the plane, with a force of _just enough_ but _not too much_ that Phil needs right now. The balance is quite difficult.

"Post-tour blues, hm?" Dan's hand is firm at the base of Phil's neck. The tears he feels dropping onto his shoulder are almost immediate, and he pulls away from Phil just slightly, holding him a little closer than arm's length. "Hey..."

Phil's sob is pathetically sad. "I don't think I can travel again. I can't...I—"

His voice is strained. Like when you've just woken up and your voice doesn't work straight away because you haven't used it in a few hours and you've had your mouth hanging open. Or when you drink something too fast and spend ten minutes trying to calm your lungs back down. Dan feels the pathos of it in the form of a stab to his heart.

"You have over a month to recover from your ordeal before we do it all over again," Dan reminds him, opting for light-hearted facetiousness. He tries for a smirk, too.

Phil's countenance undergoes a rapid transformation. Within seconds, the tears seem heavier and the situation more dire. Then he's _really_ crying, and the next thing Dan knows, he's kissing him all over— _anywhere_ —his nose, his eyes, his forehead, his eyebrows and everything, his _chin_ —everywhere except his mouth. Phil won't let him get that close, mumbling something about how he hasn't brushed his teeth yet.  It's all very messy, to be honest.

When Phil's mental state is eventually stable enough to let him move without collapsing, they head to their room. Dan thinks that his reunion with his bed is a little anticlimactic. Amass all the days he'd spent on the hard mattress on the tour bus, he had dreamily imagined this moment. When he could roll around in the sheets, just because he's _home_ and he _can_ , and slide his arms under his pillow and starfish without the risk of a spring popping out and puncturing an organ.  

Instead, they lie on opposite ends of the bed in a silence that will probably need to be talked about in the morning.

And yeah, they have a lot of catching up to do. A lot of rediscovering their lives before the tour, before they were chucked head-first into a constant flow of waiting people and crew and deadlines. It'll take time, Dan thinks. It'll take time to get the thrum of the tour out of his heartbeat, to cleanse his ears of the noise of applause and screams. But right now they have jetlag on top of jetlag, and Dan can't bring himself to think about anything else but sleep.

It's something they'll work on.


End file.
